Our trips to the Hawaiian Islands

Oahu, Kauai, The Big Island, Maui

Many years ago---around the year 1998--- Ken and I went to yet another timeshare presentation in St. Louis (for the entertainment and free stuff they gave us), but this time we ended up buying into it.  This presentation was for Pahio Resorts (specifically Kauai Beach Villas---- one of the 4 Pahios on Kauai).  We had never been to any of the Hawaiian islands and didn't really figure we'd go to the Pahio resort, but we were sold on the idea that we could bank the week into RCI and go anywhere, anytime, that we desired.  We were so naive back then!!!  So we bought a 1 bedroom/1 bath EOY (every other year) unit.  

About the same time that we went to the presentation, I came across a great TWA Getaway Vacations to Oahu for $599/person which included airfare from St. Louis and 5 nights on Oahu ( at the Maile Sky Court Hotel which we extended to 7 nights for a couple hundred dollars more).   With our first year at KBV set to be 1999, and we already had reservations for Oahu for Nov. of 1998, we banked the KBV week into RCI---and began to learn what "go anywhere, anytime you want" really means - go anywhere that is available, at the worst times of the year!  That usually means somewhere over saturated with timeshares (like Orlando or Las Vegas); or where you really want to go (usually only available during off season) if you're lucky enough to catch it as soon as it's banked.  Since we had a really good time on Oahu in 1998, when our next EOY week rolled around in 2001, we decided to go with the sure thing and see exactly what we bought.  We even booked 3 nights on Oahu that year, too, in case we didn't like Kauai.  Ended up liking Kauai even better then Oahu!

And that was the beginning of my Hawaii love affair!  We never banked that week again.  In fact, we bought more and more weeks at Pahio until we had 2 weeks every year (1 bedrooms in even years and 2 bedrooms in odd years).  That worked so well, that when Wyndham took over as the management company (around 2007), we converted our weeks into Wyndham points by buying another EOY 1 bedroom unit at Bali Hai in 2009.  With that purchase, all our Pahio weeks were converted into Wyndham points.  We lucked into a rather inexpensive way to become Platinum VIP in Wyndham (which has been great!).  Part of what got us to convert, was we were told we'd be able to reserve ocean view rooms 13 months out.  That did work for a couple years, then they "learned" that we could only reserve our original type units that far in advance.  But it worked out.  With lots of persistence and patience, we still got a lot of ocean view rooms in the 10 month Wyndham open reservation window and often within the 60 day reservation time when our VIP Platinum privileges kicked in with 50% off the number of points normally needed and free upgrades if they're available.   

Since we didn't yet have an even year timeshare week in 2002, we decided to check out the Big Island that year by renting a week at Kona Coast Resort.  Then we went back to Kauai in 2003 and started picking up more Pahio weeks at Kauai Beach Villas (all on the resell market at a fraction of the cost of our original unit) until finally buying another developer EOY week from Wyndham in 2009 to convert us to VIP Platinum Wyndham owners.

In 2006 I finally made it to Maui with my Dad.  I had read that if you love Kauai as much as we do that you'll hate the hustle and bustle of Maui.  Wrong!---I loved Maui, too.  But we're snorkelers and the shore snorkeling there is fantastic.  I went again in 2012 with my sister.  Hubby was reluctant to go to Maui because he had read the same things about Kauai lovers hating Maui that I did.  But I finally convinced him to go there in 2013 and he loved it, too---probably even more then Kauai.  Since then we've been going to both Kauai and Maui. 

1998 Oahu - first trip to the islands (Jan)

2001 Kauai - first trip to Kauai (Jan.: Helicopter tour, Blue Dolphin Napali cruise, )

         2nd trip to Oahu (Jan.)

2002 The Big Island (Jan)

2003 Kauai with Dad (March)(buy a 2nd week) (Kalalau hike; resort scuba dive; Waimea Canyon)

2003 Oahu with Dad for Sean's reinlistment (Aug. 9-15)

2004 Kauai with Tim and Faith ( March: fern grotto,   McBryde Gargens, Keahua Forestry Arboretum, Smith's luau, Waimea Canyon )

2005 Kauai  (Feb. 7-16: Queen's bath, Niihau snorkel tour, Kipu falls, Waimea Canyon)

2006  Kauai with Tim and Faith, then Dad  (Jan. 29-Feb. 12: Limahuli Gardens; Kauai Museum; Sleeping Giant hike; Kukuiolono golf course; sunset cruise, )

2006 Maui father/daughter trip - first trip to Maui (Oct. 30-Nov. 6)

2007 Kauai (Feb. 26-March 11:  Tandem surfing; Moir Gardens; Secret Beach; Mahaulepu Beach)

2008 Kauai  (March 1-14:  Bike East side trail; Keiki hula; giant North shore waves)

2009 Oahu by myself (Feb. 18-22)

         Kauai with Ken, Angie and Josh (and we convert to Wyndham)  (Feb. 22-March 8:  Napali cruise, Smith's Luau, Waimea)

2010 Kauai with Tim and Faith, again  (Feb. 19-March 5:  Moloaa beach; Gaylord's train; Smith's)

2011 Kauai  (Feb. 10-25:  Shark; vog; Hanapepe; Waimea Canyon; Na Aina Kai Garden; Kanikapila Kakoa Concert)

2012 Kauai with Schneiderjans  (Feb. 16-March 2:  Na Aina Kai; Smith's Luau; Just Live Zip Line; Coffee Plantation; Waimea Canyon; Polihale)

2012 Maui sisters' trip (May 28-June 4)

2013 Maui with Baileys (Feb. 18 - March 6)

2014  Kauai  (Jan. 18-Feb. 4:  Kauai Coast Resort; biking East trail; Smith's Garden; Allerton Garden; Na Aina Kai)

2015 Feb. 6-26
          Kauai  (Feb. 6-12:  6 nights: Lydgate; Anini; high surf)
          Maui  (Feb. 12-26)

2016  8/18 - 9/14 (2 weeks each place)
          Maui   (Aug. 18-30)
          Kauai starting 8/31 (Aug. 31-Sept. 14:  Waimea; St. Regis)

2017  no Hawaiian islands!!!!

2018  Maui for 4 weeks  with Fischers (Jan.-25 - Feb. 22)

2019  Kauai with Carolyn (Jan. 19-Feb. 2) and Maui (Feb. 2-9) by myself

2020  Dang COVID and husband's Glioblastoma cancer diagnosis, our 4 weeks on Maui were cancelled!!!

2021  Covid still raging and Ken's still battling Glioblastoma.  At least I had booked our reservations through Worldmark, so I was able to cancel with no penalty.   I sure miss Hawaii!!!!

2022 Covid not so bad, but husband still battling GBM and now bedridden.  Reservations cancelled again.

2023  Still fighting GBM.

With 20+ trips to the islands between 1998 and 2018, we obviously LOVE the islands!  It feels like another home to us!  Can't wait to go home again!

Snorkeling Kauai

Snorkeling Kauai

Probably my favorite thing to do on vacation is snorkel---or is it photography?!  I guess it would have to be underwater photography!  As of 2015, we've made 13 trips to Kauai, all during the winter.  I read a lot of comments saying that snorkeling on Kauai isn't very good.  I'm here to offer a different opinion.  I love snorkeling Kauai----and Maui, and the Big Island, and St. Thomas, Grand Cayman, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitt's and lots of other places.  But since we always get drawn back to Kauai, I decided to make a blog of our snorkeling on Kauai.  I figure I'll start at the westernmost area we snorkeled: Saltpond;  and travel to the south side: Lawai; Poipu; and Maha'ulepu Beach--- then to the East side:  Lydgate and Moloaa; Anahola--- and last but certainly not least, to the North shore:   Anini; Tunnels and Kee.   They each have their own unique character to them.

On the South side:

Saltpond:

 Lawai:

Poipu Beach:

Maha'ulepu Beach:

On to the East side:

Lydgate Park:

Moloa'a:

Anahola:

On the North side:

Anini:

Hanalei:

Tunnels:

Kee:


So whether it's raining on the north shore, or windy in Poipu, or beach closed due to shark sighting at Tunnels, or whatever, there are plenty of other great places to find to snorkel at around Kauai.  Check the surf reports and go where the surfers don't. 

2019 Kauai and Maui:

2019 Kauai and Maui:  (Jan. 19 - Feb.10)

Back in March of 2018, I came across a couple exchange weeks in RCI for Wyndham Shearwater in Kauai for the weeks of Jan. 20th and Jan. 27th.  I know Ken's not a big fan of changing islands, but I was really missing Kauai.   So I asked Ken if he would spend 2 weeks there and 2 weeks in Maui.  He said "whatever", so I immediately booked it before he realized what I was asking.  Sure we're Wyndham owners, but the weeks through RCI for The Shearwater are half the points they would have been directly with Wyndham --- booking that far in advance.  It was like being able to use our Platinum VIP advantage before the 60 day mark!  Except that we couldn't cancel without penalty, and we did have to pay the exchange fees of something like $200/week.  OK, so there are serious advantages to using VIP Wyndham status---which came really apparent shortly before this trip!  But at that time, I was excited with the thought of another trip to the islands.  
Then in April, when a 1 bedroom exchange with RCI came available for The Sands of Kahana for Feb. 2 - Feb. 16, I booked it, too.  Usually we like to get a 2 bedroom unit, but a 2 bedroom exchange in Maui is hard to get, especially in  Feb.  I was even able to book that one as 1 exchange---meaning only 1 exchange fee for the whole 2 weeks.

I also started watching for award travel on either American or Alaska Airlines.  In March, American had a good 20,000 mile fare itinerary for Jan. 19th.  So I booked it.  1 day before our exchanges started, but I'd worry about that later.

Now we were set!   Until June rolled around and Ken's right ankle collapsed due to diabetes---Charcot's.   That changed everything!  To avoid amputation, hospitalization and visits to Dr's became routine.  He had surgery in Oct. to fuse the ankle bones and had his leg broken to lengthen it to make up for the compressed ankle.  With an external fixator on his leg, we knew a trip to Hawaii was out of the question for him. 

2019 Kauai

2019 Kauai (Jan. 19 - Feb. 2):

 After only spending 5 days in Kauai since 2015, I was excited about finally getting back there.  This will be a different trip.  It will be with my sister instead of hubby, but I'm looking forward to seeing her, too.  She has never been to Kauai.  This will be my 15th trip to Kauai since 2001.  It feels like home!  In fact, hubby and I have been on Kauai longer then we've actually been in our current "home" in Perry, Georgia!

2019 Maui---solo trip

2019 Maui  --- solo trip

Can't believe I'm back!  Can't believe I'm here by myself!   

2019 Kauai Beach Villas

2019 Sands of Kahana, Maui---unit 414 (1 bedroom/1 bath unit):